farmers responsibility to become more competitive and

Farmers’ responsibility to become more competitive and sustainable

employers

NUFFIELD IRELAND

Farming Scholarships

by Edward Payne

2017 Nuffield Scholar

November 2018

Sponsored by:

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Farmers Responsibility to become more competitive and sustainable employers Ed Payne 2018

© 2008 Nuffield Ireland. All rights reserved. This publication has been prepared in good faith based on information available at the date of publication without any independent verification. Nuffield Ireland does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, reliability, completeness of currency of the information in this publication nor its usefulness in achieving any purpose. Readers are responsible for assessing the relevance and accuracy of the content of this publication. Nuffield Ireland will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on the information in this publication. Products may be identified by proprietary or trade names to help readers identify particular types of products, but this is not, and is not intended to be, an endorsement or recommendation of any product or manufacturer referred to. Other products may perform as well or better than those specifically referred to. This publication is copyright. However, Nuffield Ireland encourages wide dissemination of its research, providing the organisation is clearly acknowledged. For any enquiries concerning reproduction or acknowledgement contact the Executive Secretary. Scholar Contact Details Ed Payne Ballybeg, Tulsk, Co. Roscommon E-mail: [email protected] In submitting this report, the Scholar has agreed to Nuffield Ireland publishing this material in its edited form. NUFFIELD IRELAND Contact Details John Tyrrell, Executive Secretary, Nuffield Ireland. Phone: +353 87 256 3501 Email: [email protected]

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Table of Contents

Personal Introduction 3 Background to Study topic 4 Executive Summary 5 What is the win if we improve? 6 1 Chapter 1: Communication 8

1.1 Workplace Atmosphere and Culture 9 1.2 Calendar of works 11 1.3 Staff requirement planning 13 1.4 Communication off farm 13 1.5 Feedback and Reviewing 14

2 Chapter 2: Employing the right person 16 2.1 Job description 16

2.1.1 Writing a job description 16 2.2 Interview Skills 17 2.3 Women in Agriculture 19 2.4 Matching employee to management style 21 2.5 Delegation 21

3 Chapter 3: Agricultural Stigma 23 3.1 Survey Results 23 3.2 The strengths of farming 24 3.3 Can we change this? 25 3.4 Community Farming 25 3.5 Government Involvement 26 3.6 Improved Employer Certificate 26

4 Chapter 4: Investment 27 4.1 Small changes, big moral boost 27 4.2 Employee efficiency focused investment 27 4.3 Continuous Professional Development (CPD) 28 4.4 Health and Safety 28 4.5 Investment in Staff Planning 28

5 Chapter 5: Legal 30 5.1 Contracts 30 5.2 Working Hours and Pay 30

Conclusion 32 Recommendations 33 References 34 Appendix 1 35

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Personal Introduction

My path to becoming a farmer was not always clear, although born and reared on a farm.

After school I went to college, where I studied engineering and then business studies before

the opportunity arose for me to return home full time in 2009 which I took and have never

regretted. Since I have moved home I have studied a level 6 specific green certificate in

Mountbellew Agricultural College during which I won FBD student of the year.

I am 33 years of age married to Jennifer with two young boys, Benjamin (six years old) and

Aaron (two years old). Building a resilient farming business that in the future our two boys

will hopefully choose to step into like I did is one of my key drivers to continually develop and

move the business forward. It is the responsibility of Jennifer and I, to grow a business over

the next number of years, so that it can offer the type of lifestyle and workload that our kids

will want to get involved.

Our farm runs a grass-based system of compact spring calving cows. In 2011 we started

milking, moving our farm across from sucklers, beef and sheep to dairying. In February 2018

we started milking on a second owned block where we are milking a further 200 cows once a

day. Next year our farm will milk over 500 cows and it is with thanks to all our staff and

advisors that has helped us to where we are.

I was first introduced to Nuffield in 2010 while working on a scholar’s farm in the south east

of Ireland and from then on, being awarded a scholarship was a goal of mine. I was delighted

and proud to become a 2017 scholar and hope that my report and further work in the industry

will be of benefit to the farmers and farming in Ireland.

Since being awarded the scholarship I have gained friends and contacts in many countries

around the world, as well as gaining a huge amount of knowledge in relation to global

agriculture. My farming business has benefitted from the scholarship as I have implemented

many techniques that I had seen while travelling. Nuffield has made me proud to be part of

the wonderful industry of agriculture, it has opened my eyes to the Global scale and

importance of the industry. Nuffield has shown me the value of travel and how continuing to

push myself outside of my comfort zone, challenging myself and my business model will help

me build a resilient business in the future. I hope that over the period of my career I can now

be of help to others in the sector and through what I have learnt help them in some way. On

a personal note, since being awarded my scholarship I have developed many new skills. I

hugely underestimated the task of completing this report but I have gained greatly from the

process.

“The job of each generation is to solve more problems

than they create and to lift up the next generation to be

better than the last. Simply repeating the past does

neither.”

― L.R. Knost

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5116439.L_R_Knost

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I cannot thank my family, friends and employees enough for their time and effort in allowing

me to complete this scholarship. Since being awarded my scholarship our farm has continued

to develop at a relatively fast pace. We have set up a second unit, employed another full-time

person and grown the total area farmed through both purchase and lease of land. This has

been possible thanks to the strong team of people I have around me and their hard work has

allowed me the time to concentrate on my topic.

Background to study topic

On our farm we have always employed full time staff, and this has not changed since I have

returned home, but the reason for wanting to obtain a Nuffield scholarship and pursue this

topic choice came from several different areas.

Firstly, I recognised one of the main limiting or risk factors to the expansion plans of my

business was the availability of good, reliable, long-term staff. This coupled with the fact that

I myself did not have any training in human relations, people management etc. I saw the need

for more investigation in this area.

The strongest and most obvious reason for my drive to find answers and solutions came from

a current employee. From Killybegs, Co. Donegal, Aidan our farm manager is not from a

farming background and has a degree in electrical engineering. Yet when he and his now wife

travelled to New Zealand, they worked on some dairy farms for visa reasons, and it was there

that Aidan realised he enjoyed working on a farm. This struck a chord with me that the Irish

agricultural sector had allowed this couple to travel all the way around the world to find out

they enjoy milking cows.

From there my focus grew to wanting to find out what farmers can do to attract more people

to farming. We hear so much talk in the industry of how many people we need but that is the

case for any expanding company or industry. The labour shortage is not exclusive to the

farming community, but our sluggishness to adapt and invest in creating a workplace that can

compete is our foolish mistake.

When employees leave a farm, for any reason, there are many expenses that are incurred

from this. Direct expenses from losing staff include paying short term staff, relief staff and the

recruitment of new staff, advertising and time spent interviewing and responding. Training

new employees on your farm, whether they have done the job on another farm or not, has a

cost and the time it takes to bring them up to the productivity of previous employees can

amount to large costs. Indirect costs of losing an employee can be seen in their declining

productivity as they work out their leave and may not be working to full potential. This could

result in a drop in morale and a loss of farm know-how, especially for critical health and safety

and animal welfare issues.

Modern farms in Ireland have had to become much more business focused over the past

number of years. As a result, while researching for this report I found myself comparing

farming and its techniques against companies in other sectors. I began looking to see if there

is anything we can learn from them to improve our employee management.

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Executive Summary

Attracting people into the industry of farming has been a perpetual challenge, and will

continue to be unless we can make it an attractive career choice, and working environment.

What I have tried to do while studying this topic is to learn from great examples that I

experienced on my travels, to encourage farmers to do all they can to create a place of work

that people will see as a credible career path. It’s a ‘build it and they will come’ approach; if

the workplace is wrong, then solving the problem is doomed from the beginning.

The expanding Irish dairy sector is going to need thousands of people to enter it over the next

ten years, however this dilemma is not unique to farming or dairy alone. The unemployment

rate in Ireland is returning to the low levels of ten years ago and currently sits at 5.4%, more

that 3% lower than the euro zone average (CSO Ireland). The rate has fallen sharply since early

2012 when it was 16%.

I conducted a survey at an Agri-careers day in Dublin in 2017, which provided some key

findings for the basis to my report. Over 85% of the people attending the day were from an

agricultural background. This raised the question, “Why is a career in agriculture not

appealing to those who do not come from a farming background?”

During my travels, I had the opportunity to meet many great farmers who all have their own

approach to staff. Many of these were aware of their own strengths, and weaknesses, as a

manager. They were also conscious of their own style of management and the effects it has

on the employee engagement.

Some of the common themes I saw run through the farms I visited that are being very pro-

active regarding employees were,

Great communication at all levels

Continual investment in improving the working conditions

Mentoring, training, team building

High level of respect for employees

Realistic expectations

Awareness for their employees’ priorities

My Key recommendations include:

Famers must:

Create a workplace that has comparable working hours to careers in other sectors

Embrace and communicate to others the opportunities within agriculture

Educate themselves on the best recruitment approach to filling a position

Become more aware of the importance and route to better employee engagement

Be willing to train and develop people into their business

Invest in building a workplace to be proud of as an industry

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In order to attract and retain the 6,000 people it needs over the next ten years then there

may also be a role for other stakeholders.

Creation of an improving workplace certificate for farmers

Tax reliefs for employees

More emphasis on HR and people management skills in our Ag. colleges

Advisors trained and able to assist in the recruitment process on farms

Lobby groups to place agriculture on a more positive footing with the media and public

Conclusions

We must be willing to invest in the correct places on our farms to make sure we build a

workplace that offers more than that of other sectors, varied work type, shorter commute,

flexibility, less work or stress while off farm and improved health benefits. There must also be

a career aspect, and good communication is essential if employees are to be included in the

development and growth of the company. The business must show it values its employees

and allow them to prosper in a personal, professional way and being assisted to meet their

own plans.

My findings show that there is an opportunity to provide continual professional development

for farmers to aid them in their knowledge of Human Relations and employment law. From

there it could be possible to create a certificate of performance which may lead to getting the

backing of government to attract employees to farming.

We have a hugely positive, future proofed industry that has much to offer in the way of a

career path. It is up to us, as employers in farming, to mend our ways and create the pathways

for new people to work alongside us in this sector.

What is the win if we improve?

Before setting out on my travels I saw my business competing with other farms for staff. I had

to make a great effort to ensure my employees chose working with me instead of seeking

work elsewhere. Since travelling and seeing many different approaches to employment I feel

the sector must work together to compete against other industries for staff before we worry

about which farm they choose to work on.

As shown by the success of The Land Mobility service, there is huge potential for expansion

through collaboration and other agreements. If the industry does not overcome these

weaknesses then the opportunities will become threats due to under-staffing and under-in

investment in the correct areas to create an attractive workplace.

Finding and attracting the people needed on Irish farms should only be a stepping stone to

the industry becoming a workplace that potential employees have a desire to work in. New

Zealand has, for years, been known as the go to country for share-milking agreements and

these have supported many families through a successful career. The Irish dairy sector can

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put it’s stamp on the world dairy industry as the workplace and employment capital of the

dairy world.

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Chapter 1: Communication

Regardless of where I travelled or at what stage of the supply chain the business was involved,

the importance of communication was always very clear. Although approached in different

ways the key principles were always the same.

By communicating well, employers show that they value their employees — information is

powerful — and they ensure that employee expectations are clear. When employees feel

valued, they may be more likely to stay with an employer and not switch jobs. When they

know what's expected of them, they can focus on improving their performance in those areas.

Clear communication path via WhatsApp or other apps

WhatsApp has become a very useful management tool on farms across the world. With the

use of these electronic groups, information can easily be passed between all members of the

team. Key pieces of information such as a grass wedge, reports and items that are needed to

be purchased can all be put into the group message.

Since returning home from my travels we have set up a What’s App group on our farm for

smooth circulation of information between all members of the team on the farm. We find it

very useful for sharing information and getting information from all areas of the farm

gathered regularly, easily and straight onto a record that can be referred to later.

Goggle documents are another way that employees and employers can electronically keep

records. A document that can be altered by any member involved can help in a big team with

things like a list of jobs to be done that can be removed as completed or make a list of

important upcoming dates and events or booking holiday time.

Channels allowing communication flow both up and down the management structure

Of course, as mentioned later in this chapter, the culture of the business is very important

and the management style will dictate the level and amount of two-way communication.

From what I have seen on my travels, to improve farms as a place to work, employees must

be given access to a pathway of communication that allows them to express their views,

feelings and put forward suggestions on how the business can improve. This could take shape

in formal weekly or monthly meetings, as discussed below, or just a casual chat while daily

tasks are being completed. The important part is that staff are invited to engage in the

communication and given the opportunity.

Scheduling regular staff meetings

The larger the team on the farm gets the more important this formal structure of meetings

becomes. Whilst on my travels I saw different levels and regularity of meetings. Lawson farms

Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal

and career success.

Paul J. Meyer

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in Wisconsin for example, held meetings at all levels of the management structure every week

and directors met once a month. This farm milked over 8000 cows and communication was

vital to the smooth running of the business. These meetings offer an opportunity for

employees to feel more involved in the farm. Employers should take this opportunity to

understand how the farm is performing and how staff are dealing with current conditions.

Also, the meeting should reflect upon actions taken since the last meeting and what lessons

have been learnt and changes to be made in the next period. Most importantly though these

meetings should strengthen the relationship between employees and the business. It is a

chance for the farm to involve staff in the plans and the direction that the farm is going.

Distributing a complete, easy-to-understand employee manual

At times and especially if you are a new member of staff the hardest questions to ask are the

simple or obvious ones. Having a clear manual for all employees can help new employees to

settle into a job. It is also a great way to get new staff in on the culture of the farm as it can

all be included in the manual.

Outlining job expectations and employee goals

While in Milk Source in Wisconsin I asked an employee, what do they feel drove the owners

of the company to where it is now, milking over 40,000 cows. They told me that the owners

all thought that good staff stay in a company that is growing and challenging them. In Ireland

on our farms we must communicate the expectations and goals that we have set for

employees. There is no gain from telling employees afterwards that you expected more. It is

only fair and will lead to better buy in from employees if they are aware of what is expected

from them before they attempt the task.

Requesting feedback from employees

Continuous development and training is another key part of becoming a better employer and

is covered in more detail later in this report. One approach to Continuous Professional

Development (CPD) is to ask for feedback from your employees. If we are to be constructively

critical of our staff and try to shape and help them into a job that they will enjoy and stay in,

we as employers also need to be able to listen to their criticism of us and the job role we have

built for them. Of course, more important than listening to their points is to act upon them.

Staff appraisal meetings can be a great opportunity to engage in this conversation; it gives the

employee a chance to air his or her feelings about the job, the management structure and

their place of work.

1.1 Workplace Atmosphere and Culture

Workplace culture is the environment that you create for your employees. It plays a

powerful role in determining their work satisfaction, relationships and progression. It is

the mix of your organisation’s leadership, values, traditions, beliefs, interactions,

behaviours and attitudes that contribute to the emotional and relational environment of

your workplace. These factors are generally unspoken and unwritten rules that help to

form bonds between your employees. (www.sidekicker.com.au)

https://www.thebalance.com/what-makes-up-your-company-culture-1918816



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Employers must be very aware of the atmosphere or culture that is created on a farm if it is to

become an attractive place to work. Positive outlook and approach to work can lift the morale

of employees. The mission statement and key focuses of a business must be clear and well

defined so that everyone coming to work is under no illusions as to the direction the business

is going.

While visiting Vince Bown of Healthi Straw in Canada he spoke of how he put a lot of weight

on employing people who fit the culture of the company and feel that skills can be taught.

The culture at Milksource in Wisconsin milking a total of forty thousand cows over numerous

farms is one of “promote from within.” All employees are constantly reminded of how it is

possible for them to climb the ladder of progression which will earn them better working hours,

more responsibility and job security.

If an employer can successfully develop a good positive workplace atmosphere and culture it

will lead to a great sense of belonging by an employee. If a business shows a good level of

professionalism and structure that employees can buy into it will be felt as another level of

security by them.

For example, a workplace uniform, by that I mean overalls, jackets or T-shirts with the farm

name or logo on them helps to show a level of professionalism but also when staff are wearing

this clothing it can help to disconnect from life outside of work, ie. when wearing these clothes,

they can switch into the culture of the farm.

Figure 1 My GFP group at the kitchen Table of Bailey Farm Iowa

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1.2 Calendar of works

Mohan and Navin Rajes, Coffee plantation India. While on GFP in India we visited the Moganad plantation of the Rajes family in India.

The plantation is an integrated cropping system of coffee, jackfruit, citrus, pepper and

spices. The plantation spans over a huge 900 hectares. With 97% of the worlds coffee

plantations being 15 hectares or less, this shows the massive scale that this family run

business is operating on.

2 Employee picking coffee beans

Navin Spoke to me about how in the remote area of India where this plantation is

securing a steady workforce is impossible. The workforce on the plantation is very

fluid with people turning up for work on a hit and miss type basis. New staff can turn

up for work unannounced and need to be integrated into the system easily as their

turnover may be very quick.

The plantation operates on a one member of staff per hectare basis which means

roughly 1000 staff members on hand on any given day. Jobs include picking,

fertilizing, spraying, weeding, replanting and shade regulation. Due to the nature of

the terrain all these jobs are done by hand with very little mechanical assistance.

Navin spoke of how the use of a calendar of works was paramount to the smooth

running of the plantation. This document held pride of place in the office and was

made available to all employees. It was a hugely detailed document that made each

task for each week of the year. In a company with so many employees and a large

staff turnover this is a great way to make sure everyone knows the day to day, week

to week and monthly tasks that need to be carried out. Managers, who are longer

term staff that have been promoted from within the business, are allocated an area

of the plantation of which they are in control. They often refer to the calendar of

works to asses if they are keeping up to date with tasks that year and what the

upcoming tasks are over the next period.

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The document is always being added to and changed due to new techniques or weather

trends. For example, the owners of the plantation had been gathering rainfall and weather

data for over 50 years and have noticed a trend that the rainy season is starting and finishing

later in the year, therefore fruits are ripening at different times of the year and planting time

has changed so with that their calendar of works has been altered to cater for this.

Transferring this idea to dairy farms in Ireland a calendar of works would be a huge benefit to

any employee if he or she was not waiting to hear from the employer what the upcoming

tasks were. If an employee knew that milk recording, or vaccination always took place during

a certain week they could order the products well in advance and have their time scheduled

to get the job done.

The whole principle itself helps with the communication level on the farm, employees will fell

more included in task planning and will gain a sense of control over what is happening.

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1.3 Staff Requirement planning It is vital for a farm to have a good understanding of what number of staff is needed to carry

the work load on the farm over the period of a year. The calendar of works explained above

can be used as a reference and aid to calculate the number of employees that will be needed

and then plans can be put in place to fill the workload peaks and troughs.

Managing expectations is a vital part of this process. Farmers I met as I travelled often spoke

of how they have had to educate themselves on the level of work each employee can do.

Many farmers spoke of how they felt the staff turnover has reduced when they reduce the

level of expectation upon employees to a more realistic level.

1.4 Communication off farm

This heading brings quite an important point to attention. Employers should expect the very

best from their employees while at work, equally employees while at work should give their

full attention for many reasons, none more than health and safety. However, time outside of

working hours should mean exactly that.

This rule should of course stand in all sectors, as employees need time to disconnect from

their place of work. They should be able to be present elsewhere, without having to always

be conscious of what is happening at work or if they are going to be contacted about an issue

or problem.

The way to implement this is to make it clear to employees that they will not be expected to

be involved in any emails, WhatsApp group chat etc during weekends and time off. For this

to work the handover between staff members must be structured and easy to follow.

Correct use of whiteboards or electrical systems such as mentioned above should be able to

facilitate the person leaving to communicate all the relative information so that they will not

need to be contacted while off. Of course, there will be emergencies, and everyone should be

willing to allow for these, but the rule of thumb should stand and that is that “off farm time

is off farm.”

If we are to pick areas that farming can prove to be a career of choice for people that are not

from a farming background or if the industry is to draw a potential employee away from a

more office based formalised job this can be a big area of focus. Although many jobs are

perceived to be 9 to 5 or even 8 to 6 in many cases they are much longer hours than that with

employees expected to check work emails and messages in the morning before work and in

the evening or weekends on supposedly off time. For many this can add large amounts of

stress and the feeling that work has no defined start and finish time

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1.5 Feedback and Reviewing

Agricultural employers should establish a feedback loop within their businesses. In other

words, the employer should create opportunities to provide constructive feedback to

employees, and employees should have the opportunity to share feedback with the business.

Performance reviews and in some cases, employers ask employees to participate in surveys

on job satisfaction facilitate opportunities for sharing feedback.

With a performance review, an employer assesses how well an employee has done his or her

work. Also, it enables the two — employer and employee — to collaborate and help the

employee develop a plan focused on growing professionally and moving the business closer

to achieving its goals. A performance review adds some formality to the feedback process,

and it summarizes overall worker performance instead of address just a particular project,

event or situation. (Missouri Farm Labor Guide, 2017)

Ideally, performance reviews will involve some planning and good communication by the

employer. Often, an employee’s direct manager will lead the review because the manager

has had a good chance to monitor the employee’s work. Employees should know when to

expect performance reviews — for example, every quarter, six months or year — and they

should understand how they’ll be evaluated during those reviews.

Performance reviews are a key component of employee development. The performance review is intended to be a fair and balanced assessment of an employee’s performance. They are an opportunity for employers to:

Discuss job performance Set goals for professional development Establish objectives for contributing to the department’s mission Discuss expectations and achievements over previous period

(University of Tennessee Knoxville)

During the review, encourage an employee to share his or her thoughts about personal

performance. The following list provides some sample questions to guide the review. Then,

the employer should have time to share performance-related comments. The performance

review also creates a good time to update employees about upcoming changes in

compensation, personnel or job descriptions. The employer should keep written records of

the review and its contents, and the documentation can be added to the employee’s file.

• What do you view as your top work-related strengths and weaknesses?

• What resources would help you to improve your job performance?

• How do you plan to continually develop professionally?

• How well is your work team functioning?

• Between now and your next performance review, what goals do you plan to achieve?

• What do you see as opportunities for the business? (Missouri Farm Labor Guide 2017)

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These performance reviews also give employers an opportunity to quantify employee

improvement.

During a performance review, the employer should identify opportunities to recognise

workers for doing well on the job. Also, give employees the opportunity to ask questions,

clarify information provided by the reviewer and create an environment for discussion.

Figure 3 Meeting with Joe Horner and Ryan Milhollin of Missouri State University

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Chapter 2: Employing the right person

Identifying a work need on your farm begins the recruitment process. Start by brainstorming

parameters for the job position. For example, does the farm need full-time or part-time help?

What time of day and day of the week — mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekdays,

weekends and so forth — does the business need help? Is the work need seasonal or year-

round? After considering questions like these, employers can start creating a job description.

Having spoken to recruitment agencies it is clear that farmers themselves have to step back

and assess exactly what it is that they are looking for in an employee; do they want and can

they afford a full time employee? Can they be flexible with working hours or do they need

someone for fixed hours? Knowing exactly what the role is going to entail and looking for

someone that fits the farm and that a farmer will get along with should be higher on a wish

list than possibly the qualifications.

Having a clearly defined job description is key to determining who the farmer is looking for, what they will be expected to do and help to find the right person for the role. Advertising for a farm manager, when really a farmer needs someone to help milking, will mean that both the employer and employee will end up frustrated and unhappy in their work. Farming is a fantastic life and career for those that have an interest and finding the right fit for the farm makes a happy place to work.

2.1 – Job Description

For farms, job descriptions are important for several reasons. When recruiting workers, a job

description clearly lists a position’s needs and expectations. It should help job-searchers

determine whether they would qualify for a job or have interest in a job.

During the interview process, a job description can help an employer consistently track

whether potential hires can fill a position’s needs and meet its expectations. With a clear job

description, an employee — and the company at large — may better understand his or her

role in the business and the relationships that he or she should create with co-workers and

others.

2.1.1 Writing a Job Description

In most cases, written job descriptions should consist of at least six parts:

1. Title. A job title should concisely summarize the position and indicate its level of

seniority, which could be described with terms such as “manager” or “trainee.”

2. Job Summary. As a short paragraph, a job summary should explain a position’s duties,

responsibilities, expected qualifications and physical demands. Because the summary

reflects information included throughout a job description, consider writing it after

finishing the other sections. Employers may use the summary for promotional

purposes.

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3. Job Duties. Typically, jobs involve a set of duties and tasks. In this section list all

required duties for a position. Possible applicants like to see a breakdown of a typical

day at work or a list of what some of the main tasks will be at certain times of the year.

4. Job Qualifications. Qualifications are skills, knowledge, experience, education,

certifications and other personal characteristics that are essential for an employee to

do a job.

5. Work Relationships. Generally, employees will collaborate with other staff. Where an

employee will fit in the organizational hierarchy by naming reporting relationships. In

other words, who’s the employee’s supervisor, and who does the employee

supervise?

6. Work Schedule and Environment. Schedule refers to typical hours, overtime needs,

and the potential for work during evenings, weekends, holidays or other irregular

times. Environment involves whether work is inside or outside and whether it is team-

oriented.

In a job description, employers may choose whether they mention salary and benefits,

which include time off, housing and the options of future training. Some employers prefer

not to share that information. Regardless of whether a description mentions pay, employers

should consider a range that the business would like to spend, and that job-seekers would

accept. (Missouri Farm Labor Guide, 2017). Appendix 1 shows a copy of a job description for our

Herdsperson.

2.2 Interview skills

During an interview, employers should learn about the person being interviewed and share

information about the position and business. Listening skills are important. If an interviewer

talks too much, then the person being interviewed doesn’t have as much time to speak, and

you don’t have an opportunity to learn as much about the interviewee. As a general rule, 20

percent of an interview should involve the interviewer speaking. The person being

interviewed should speak during the other 80 percent of the time. This doesn’t mean that you

shouldn’t ask follow-up questions or share information about the position or the business,

but the key is good balance. Use the same questions for people interviewing for the same

position. Doing that will help you to easily compare answers from each candidate. Also, take

good notes. Otherwise, remembering specific responses after the interview concludes may

be difficult.

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In many cases and from speaking to many farmers here in Ireland Interview skills are a huge

weakness of Irish farmers. Many farmers have not had to prepare themselves for many formal

interviews in their own career. Obviously, the interview has a huge influence on the person

who finally gets offered the position and without the right skills and experience it is very

difficult to expect the employer to run a successful interview process. An interview run

without correct structure and planning can quickly end up too casual, some of the people I

met who have well planned interviews would have pre-defined roles for everyone that would

be at the interview, people would have certain questions to ask. The route of the trip around

the farm would be planned, sometimes if there were already staff employed on the farm the

interview would include meeting and engaging with the other team members.

Charlie Joe (CJ) and Jose Ortiz at Milk Source, USA

Figure 4 Ed Payne with CJ Ortiz at milk source Wisconsin

Jose who started as a milker at Milk Source in 2008 showed he valued the culture at Milk

Source that everyone who works towards the company’s goal can progress up through the

company and in 2017 he became their new farm development specialist. He moved first

to maternity and did a year at Tidy View dairy. He was eager to learn and was promoted

to herd staff where after 4 -5 years he became lead herd person. John Vosters, one of the

three company founders, promoted him then to Omro Dairy. During this time CJ who was

a stay at home mum, was called and asked would she come to work at Milk Source; they

were very flexible with her and she now works on PR, showing visitors around the Dairy

with enthusiasm and happiness that has come from their whole family being well treated

by the company and the promotion of family values within. CJ made a point to know all

staff and brings in treats on a regular basis. Their 15-year-old son has had a scholarship

paid for by Milk Source to become a mechanic with the view of working for them also.

Milk Source has paid for courses for the whole family. CJ believes that being flexible and

having a culture of respect is key to their success.

19


2.3 Women in Agriculture

In many of the farms I visited, from a vegetable farm in Brazil to a coffee plantation in India,

most of the staff on these farms were women and there were several reasons behind this

strategy. The culture of the country was often that the women did a lot of the work, the

employers often found women to be easier to manage than men, they found that women had

a better ability to do very repetitive tasks well and held their concentration better.

Seeing a woman working in ag in many of the countries I travelled to was as common there

as it is uncommon to see a woman in agriculture here in Ireland. The agricultural industry in

Ireland must look to all labour pools over the coming years to attract enough people to fill

available positions.

Figure 6 Coffee being dried on coffee Plantation in India

Figure 5 Rice being planted out in Paddy fields in India

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On many dairy farms now, the position available may be nearly a split shift of milking, a

morning of calf rearing etc. etc. and these roles may fit very well with a woman in the locality.

Case Study: Anton Burst, Saskatchewan, Canada

Anton runs a dairy farm and is very aware of the culture on his farm. He milks all his cows through

16 Lely robots and is extremely people focused. He chose to change from a conventional milking

parlour to robots as he felt the consistency of milking the cows was of vital importance and he was

not able to educate his employees to a consistent enough level. Instead, he runs a very

regimented structure around the maintenance of the parlour and day to day running of the farm.

At each robot is a checklist that must be signed against by a member of staff at regular intervals

which is how accountability is created in the workplace. All equipment needed is close to robot,

well positioned for ease of use and has maintenance checklist.

Figure 7 Ed Payne and Anton Burst

All staff of Anton’s are cross trained so if there is a shortage of staff in an area on a particular day

it means someone else from another area on the farm can fit in with no added stress.

Anton believes you need to know what you know and what you are good at and let others fill in

for your weaknesses. This is also a great demonstration on this farm of delegation, although

accountability levels are high and staff work with a strict code of practice they have a lot of

freedom to plan their day and can take responsibility for specific tasks on their own accord.

21


2.4 Matching employee to management style

No two farmers manage the same way, some prefer crossbred cows, some like to run a high

input all year-round system and the same applies to the way people manage other people.

There has been, over the years, a lot of work done on how best to manage people in a

workplace but first you must understand the type of manager you are. The scale slides from

autocratic, where management keep decisions tight and staff have little or no autonomy, to

more relaxed style where employees can make more decisions based on their own initiative

and managers take much more of a counselling and listening type role than the more

micromanagement type approach of others.

Whatever your management style, it is important to identify what it is and put in place a plan

to employ someone who will develop, commit to and enjoy working under that style. To

reduce staff turnover rates, it is important that during the interview process you can evaluate

the type of management the interviewee would prefer. Questions around decision making,

backing their own thought process or whether they take instruction well, if they work well

under tight management structure and strict guidance.

As many farms in Ireland move from not employing anyone on a full-time basis to having to

employ one or more employees this is a vital part of the employment process. It is the

responsibility of the employer to identify his or her own management style and be aware of

that as part of what employee will best suit them. As I travelled I saw many different styles of

management. In the US for example, where the cow numbers were large and the job

description quite repetitive, the management style was usually more autocratic. Staff

performed well but were guided at every opportunity: strict procedures were in place which

allows for very little freedom of expression from the employees.

2.5 Delegation

As mentioned above, it is vital to match to the type of management structure that an

employee prefers to work under with the management style of the manager or managers in

charge. However, in the case of many rapidly expanding dairy farms here in Ireland where

cow numbers are growing quickly, a considerable amount of capital investment may be taking

place or maybe the business is spread over multiple units. Correct use of delegation is one of

the key tools I saw as I travelled to allow a farm business to successfully transition through

expansion. When I asked an employee of Milk Source in Wisconsin, a company now milking

over forty thousand cows why they felt the three co-founders have always had such drive to

expand the company, the answer was simply that the founders feel to keep good employees

the company must grow ahead of them, so they can gain more responsibility and feel the

security of the business getting stronger.

Many expanding farm owners in Ireland are going through a transition from being cow

managers to people managers and having to delegate may not be a task that comes easily to

them. Owners may be more comfortable to take on the responsibility of the more important

22


tasks themselves instead of taking the time to set up a correct delegation structure which

may well be a new skill to them in many cases.

Delegation will give employees a very strong feeling of involvement in the business and will

show that they have the trust of the business.

Delegation is to start by specifying the outcome you desire to the employees that are to carry

out the task. Establish controls, identify limits to the work if necessary and provide sufficient

support. It is important to offer support or assistance if needed but only when asked for

(www.mindtools.com). Keep up to date with progress and focus on results rather than

procedures. The key point to successful delegation is to focus on the results, allow employees

the freedom to select the tools to use and their own approach to the task. Finally, when the

work is completed, give recognition where it’s deserved. The above is the approach taken to

one specific task. The issue ahead of many expanding farmers in Ireland is to gain the

knowledge and ability to delegate a large percentage of the running of their business,

grassland budgeting and management, herd health management, breeding policy etc. The

more major parts to the running and future plans of the business may have larger financial

implication so delegating in these areas will be harder than lesser tasks but the principle and

system remains the same.

Figure 8 Employees sorting and grading carrots on vegetable farm in Brazil

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Chapter 3: Agricultural Stigma

If the agricultural industry is to attract future employees away from other industries it must

remove the stigma attached to it. That of long working hours, hard dirty work in bad weather

conditions, or of no route to progression.

At Agri Careers day in the RDS Dublin in 2017 I ran a survey of the students in attendance and

the top two reasons for them not to choose a career on farm were long working hours and

no clear career progression path.

Running a modern dairy farm myself, I feel that it is possible to set up a farm structure in

which both these issues can be addressed. Although there are seasonal busy times, with good

planning and enough temporary staff, working hours per person still don’t need to be

excessive.

The removal of this stigma must have a long-term approach assisted by many bodies but no

one more responsible for it than farmers ourselves. We must approach our job/career more

professionally. Farming must be seen in the future as a much more positive industry. We have

many representative bodies involved in Agriculture in Ireland but to date no one is attempting

to aggressively promote farming as a possible career choice. The perceived view of a career

in farming, and the actual benefits and values of it, is not properly portrayed to people in

areas with little or no agricultural knowledge.

The New Zealand dairy sector has long been known for its ability to offer huge career

progression through share milking agreements. People have progressed from farm labourer

right up through to becoming land owners. Due to the low levels of farm sales here in Ireland,

the scale of many of the farms and the lack of that culture of progression in agriculture to

date we have not seen these routes freely opening to people. This New Zealand model has

been well publicised here in Ireland but as part of my studies I find myself asking is this model

the correct one for Ireland. Milk Source in the states, like many other farms I visited in America

has no such progression path through share milking, instead they use the employment model

and encourage progression and career pathways through it.

3.1 Survey Results

As I mentioned above, in 2017 I ran a survey of potential future farm employees from which

I gathered some very interesting statistics. Over 36% of those surveyed were not considering

an on-farm job at the time and just 12.5% were focused specifically on finding an on farm job

that day, while the rest, just over 50% would consider either as a career path. For me it was

staggering to discover that more than one third of this group, which was made up of 70% 18-

25 year olds, were not going to consider an on farm job.

24


From that response I then carried on asking for reasons why these people were not choosing

to follow a career on farm. I, like many others I have spoken to on my travels, expected the

main answer to be level of pay; however the top reason for not choosing a career as an on-

farm employee was that they saw little or no level of progression in the future, following that

the second most chosen reason was the long working hours they felt farming involved.

As for my report and study topic, I took a lot from the results of this survey. I was encouraged

by the fact that the future labour force of our industry was not fearful of the level of pay.

From the employer’s perspective the obstacles that are stopping people from seeking a job

on farm are not as financially limiting as competing with other industries on the pay scale.

Teagasc research shows no effect of 18/6 hour compared with a 12/12-hour milking interval

in herd averaging <6,000kg/cow. An 18/6-hour milking interval should be practiced on all

farms averaging <6,000kg/cow. With this in mind and of course pulling together other time

saving and labour efficiency tips from this and other reports farmers can remove the stigma

of long working hours from farming.

3.2 The strengths of farming

While travelling on my Nuffield studies one of the most striking things for me was the value

of agriculture to economies all over the world, the level of employment it generates and the

stability it offers to local communities. No matter what country I was in or who I met from the

agricultural sector we could relate to many common topics through the agricultural industry.

Ireland has a huge history of farming but with growing urbanisation and the obvious growing

divide between consumer and producer the farming industry, I feel needs to become more

proactive in promoting our industry. If the industry is to compete with other sectors in the

country for employees then we need to become more positive and professional about the

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

See better prospects elsewhere

Working Hours

Pay

Type of work

Working Conditions

Lack of experience

Farming is too remote/unsocialiable

Employer HR abilities

Other

Q: Select three top reasons you wouldnot choose and on farm job

25


way we look at our own sector as well as using the positives within our sector to attract people

to choose an on farm career.

With rising urbanisation comes rising rent and living cost in the larger cities across the

country. Some people are choosing long commutes to work and can spend up to and over 4

hours a day commuting to and from their job. As an employee on a farm people can expect

much lower priced and more readily available housing. Add to this positive the shorter

commute, the fact that farm work is varied, mentally, physically and emotionally challenging

can be seen as another positive by people whose job can be very repetitive and fixed.

3.3 Can we change this?

As I mentioned above, the process of changing the sigma attached to jobs in agriculture has

to take a multifaceted approach. From a farmer’s or employer’s approach, what can we do to

change the perception of farming?

We must regard our industry much more professionally, by this I mean we learn from other

industries and how they have managed through labour shortages. We must put in place the

findings of this report ie. better starting finishing times and staff planning. We must create a

safer workplace by working alongside the health and safety authority to move the industry as

a whole to a much safer place.

3.4 Community Farming

While travelling in the states I visited a group called Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin

(PDPW). It’s a member funded organisation aimed at improving the profitability of its farming

members through education and networking. One point we discussed with the executive

director, Shelly Maher, was the programme of open farm breakfasts they are involved in.

Different Farms across the state open their gates monthly to the public to attract people in to

learn more of how their food is produced. The programme is a great success with local food

producers also getting involved to showcase their products and taking the opportunity to

contact possible customers. Similar initiatives are run in the UK with open farm Sunday for

example and Agri Aware’s Open farm day this year around the country.

To date very little like this has been taking place here in Ireland and as some anti-agriculture

lobby groups gain momentum in the country the industry needs to be more proactive and

transparent. We need to be more open and welcoming on our farms as we have nothing to

hide, it is simply to get a process in place.

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3.5 Government Involvement

The importance of the agricultural sector to the Irish has never been more obvious than it has

been since the recession began in 2007; but now, more than ten years on and projections

showing the country will be back at near full employment next year, how can and will the

country’s government see a benefit in removing this agricultural stigma and create a better

workplace on farms.

Could the agricultural sector help to slow the growth of the well-publicised housing crisis in

the main cities across the country? With more than 6000 farm workers needed in the industry

in the next eight years, the government could offer tax allowances for farm employees to

highlight the benefits the government sees in people living and working outside of our main

population hubs. This policy would be a double-edged sword, in that it would reduce the

growing number of people looking for living arrangement in urban areas as well as circulating

more money in the rural towns and villages that are not seeing the same economic recovery

that the major cities are seeing.

3.6 Improving Employer Certificate

Another initiative that would run alongside the Government involvement would be a status a

farmer could receive if his or her farm is making a noticeable attempt to improve its farm as

a place to work. Run alongside and as part of the Bord-Bia audit or independently accredited

by Teagasc or another body this certificate would not only encourage better employment

practices. Farmers would realise this certificate would signify to potential employees that

their farm is continuously working to improve the workplace.

Pulling the two above points together I can see an option that only employees of farms that

have received the improving employer certificate would receive the tax incentives to work on

farm. This would insure that the tax reliefs would not only be encouraging people out of the

built-up areas and not only allowing people in the country to free up some more disposable

income, it would further encourage farmers to improve their employment skills and the

standard of workplace they offer.

If it was the case that only employees to a farm holding the improving employer certificate

would qualify for the tax reliefs then this would also offer those farmers working to gain the

certificate a recruitment advantage.

Figure 9 Milking on Larson acres farm in Wisconsin

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Chapter 4: Investment

It was always apparent to me no matter where I travelled that both employers and employees

did not see money or salary as the main reason to attract and retain staff. However, it was

obvious in many of the farms I visited that continual investment in a safe and modern

workplace was valued very highly by all concerned.

4.1 Small changes, big moral boost

It can be surprising how a small practical change can really make a huge difference to the

efficiency of a farm but also the mood of employees. As well as improving employee efficiency

this small investment helps to show that the farm is maintaining things on all levels such as:

A well-positioned and organised white-board

Somewhere clean and tidy to change and eat

A toilet and shower room

Clearly defined and available roster

A map of the farm on whiteboard and on A4 size printouts to help with contractors

4.2 Employee efficiency focused investment

The Irish dairy sector has for many years prided itself on the low cost of production that can

be achieved here. Farmers the country over have trimmed costs, where possible, to help their

business become more resilient to the global market volatility that is such a huge part of our

industry now. During this process the question must be asked as to whether we have

contributed to the shortage of available labour in our industry as a result. If you look at other

business or industries such as Facebook, Syngenta etc, it is obvious how much they value their

employees by the continued investment they make in staff moral and staff workplace.

On many of the farms I visited in America where staff played an integral part in the business

and staff numbers where high, more than twenty full time employees, the area of employee

related investment was taken very seriously. All parlours I visited where modern, fit for

purpose, up to date and had all the technologies needed for the system that the farm ran.

Apart from the parlour itself though the importance staff had to the farm was obvious

everywhere, spacious comfortable tea rooms, clean toilets, offices and rest areas on farms

that needed such items.

Investment and of course, debt must be approached with caution but to put it bluntly in many

farms further borrowings from a bank are easier to find than long term employees. The

equipment on a farm is paramount to the morale of any staff and will have a direct effect on

productivity

Terms such as staff efficiency and LEAN management must also be approached with caution.

The aim of this report is to highlight the importance of becoming a better employer which

28


certainly will result in a more efficient workplace. I visited many farms that aim for very

efficient employees which, in one way or another, may be expecting too much from them. It

is important that the staff planning that was spoken about earlier is maintained. To be over-

staffed at times of the year may not, in the long run of the business, be a bad thing.

4.3 Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Nuffield itself is an example of continuous professional development, that of getting outside

your comfort zone, going in search of new information and bringing that knowledge back to

your own respective area of work in the industry. For Irish dairy farms to become more

attractive places to work farmers are going to have learn new skills and continue to develop

themselves as employers. These recognised courses could be linked to the improving

employer certificate mentioned above. Farmers are aware of the importance of financial

management skills, grassland management skills amongst others and employment skills are

no different. Although I have mentioned some in this report there is much more detail and

many more skills that farmers will have to up-skill themselves in or look to contract out those

jobs to companies offering such services.

4.4 Health and Safety

Farming is now the most dangerous workplace in Ireland and, it goes without saying, that if

farming is going to become a more attractive workplace it is going to have to become a safer

workplace. Hindsight and “What ifs” are little use on a farm after an accident; significant

investment may have to made on the farm to address health and safety risks. Discussion

groups can play a part here also, nominating a safety officer or two each year who’s job it is

for each meeting to evaluate any health and safety issues on the specific farm that is being

visited. All issued can then be raised at the AGM to find out if any or all have been addressed

and how that was done.

4.5 Investment in staff planning

As mentioned above, with the use of a calendar of works farm managers can gain a greater

feeling of involvement and more responsibility for the day to day tasks to be completed.

Another benefit of having a calendar of works is that a farmer can calculate with some

accuracy the amount of people needed on the team at any specific time of the year. On most

dairy farms here in Ireland spring time and early summer will be the peak requirement time

for staff and if a farmer is aware in time he/she can set in place a plan to fill these shortfalls

in the labour on the farm. Apart from this, famers should be able to see the busy times in

their calendar and move more flexible tasks from one month to another to create a steadier

work flow. For example, with good planning a lot of spring preparation of sheds and facilities

can be done before Christmas, fencing upkeep can be done mainly in August or September.

29


This does not get away from the fact that investment in having enough staff on the roster

when the workload increases will come at a cost for the business. The race to produce milk at

the lowest possible figure in some areas I believe is a false economy. Labour is, as it should

be, one of the biggest costs on many Irish dairy farms and, as mentioned earlier, some capital

will be necessary on many farms to modernise and develop them into competitive sustainable

workplaces.

Figure 10 Ed Payne with Gary Nolan on his farm in Missouri

30


Chapter 5: Legal

As mentioned earlier it is important that farmers become more professional as we attempt

to move the industry away from the stigma attached to it, and allow farm employment to

become more available and seen as more of an option to people that may not be from a

farming background. What better way to do this than to take the area’s employment law

more seriously on farm?

5.1 Contracts

Formal contracts between employees and employers are taken as normal in all other

industries yet in agriculture in Ireland we seem to be slow to offer employees contracts. This

may well be due to a lack of knowledge in the area mixed with a degree of fear of what signing

a contract commits them to. To the contrary, a contract will help to clarify some issues that

may well not yet have been discussed with a new employee.

While the complete contract does not have to be in writing, an employee must be given a

written statement of terms of employment within 2 months of starting work, but in most

cases a full contract is the chosen option as it offers better protection to the employer.

A contract should include

The full name of employer and employee

The address of the employer

The place of work

The title of job or nature of work

The date the employment started

If the contract is temporary, the expected duration of the contract

If the contract of employment is for a fixed term, the details

Details of rest periods and breaks as required by law

The rate of pay

Pay intervals

Hours of work

Details of paid leave

Sick pay and pension (if any)

Period of notice to be given by employer or employee

(www.citizensinformation.ie)

5.2 Working Hours and Pay

As shown above in the results from the survey I carried out at the Agri Careers day in Dublin

2016 potential employees to the dairy sector in the future saw long working hours as a bigger

reason not to work on farm than the level of pay. The lessons I take from this is that farmers

31


need to educate themselves on what the regulation is around working hours. The maximum

an employee should work in an average working week is 48 hours. However, in Ireland there

are exception allowing this figure to be averaged over a period shown in the table below.

Employees who are night workers 2 months

Employees generally 4 months

Employees where work is subject to seasonality, a foreseeable surge in activity or where employees are directly involved in ensuring continuity of service or production

6 months

Employees who enter into a collective agreement with their employers which is approved by the Labour Court

Up to 12 months

(Teagasc Farm Labour Manual)

The seasonality of the spring calving dairy sector allows farmers to average this

requirement for a 48-hour week over a six-month period but there must be a win-win for

both employer and employee. As discussed in chapter one everything must be

communicated and agreed in advance. Expecting someone to work very long shifts and

large numbers of hours per week during a busy and demanding calving period without

having discussed with them the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak that they will

have more relaxed hours after calving is over.

That in mind, if correct staff planning is in place there should be no need to expect

employees to have to work these excessive hours.

Rest times are also a key part to the legal obligations of an employer as they have a direct

effect on the health and safety in the workplace. An employee is entitled to 11 consecutive

hours rest per day and 24 consecutive hours once per week following a daily rest period.

This area is very well documented by the likes of the Workplace Relations Committee

(WRC) and in the Teagasc Farm Labour Manual that goes into a huge amount of detail on

all aspects of the legal side of farm employment. The WRC is also very approachable and

willing to offer assistance to anyone looking to move into the area of employment.

Figure 11 Aidan Brosnan, Employee at Hilltop Dairies in Ireland

32


Conclusions

Farming as a career and workplace has a huge amount to offer over other industries. Large financial investments are not paramount to becoming a better employer.

Farming as an industry is behind the curve in staff training and continuous personal

development

Knowing the style of management you practice and being aware of the workplace

culture is paramount to creating a stable workplace and developing employee

engagement.

Farmers themselves are responsible for the image of agriculture and must work

together to change and improve it.

Minor, major and fatal accident numbers are far too high in the industry and it is

putting the workplace in a very bad light.

Figure 12 Ed Payne with Akinwumi Adesina, 2017 World Food Prize Laureate

33


Recommendations

Farmers themselves need to become aware of areas that must be invested in to

become a competitive workplace, eating, changing, showering, toilet facilities. Parlour

fit for purpose.

Health and safety must be more regularly inspected on farms.

An improved employer certificate programme could be linked to Bord Bia inspections

that would allow farmers to prove their intention to become better employers.

There is an opportunity for the government to offer tax allowances to farm staff to

encourage more people to live and work in the more rural areas of the country helping

to reduce urbanisation and decline of rural town and villages.

Tying the two above recommendations together only employees on Bord Bia

approved and improved employer certificate holding farms could avail of the tax

allowance.

Farmers must educate themselves realistically on how many staff they need to

complete the year’s work and invest appropriately to always have enough staff on

hand.

Farmers need to be more professional in their approach to employees by having

contracts signed, correct working hours and holidays and rest periods agreed

Farmers need to play to the strengths of the industry to help attract labour away from

other areas of employment by having flexible working hours, short commutes and an

outdoor variable workload that is both physically and mentally challenging.

CPD is needed for farmers in employment law, Human relations, Management styles

and structures.

Agricultural colleges need to highlight to their students the importance of being a

good employer and they should have more emphasis in this area on their courses.

Teagasc has a role to play to make sure students studying agriculture also gain Human

Resources management skills.

34


References

Knost, L.R, www.goodreads.com/author/quotes15116439

CSO. www.tradingeconomics.com

Teagasc, “People in Dairy Action Plan”, June 2018

Meyer, Paul. J, Leadership Management Institute, LMI Journal, Volume II, No.10

www.sidekicker.com.au – What is workplace culture really.

Roach. A, Horner. J, Milhollin. R, “Missouri Farm Labor Guide”, University of Missouri,

Extension, July 2017.

www.mindtools.com – Successful Delegation – Using the power of other peoples help

www.citizensinformation.ie – contract of employment

www.dairynz.co.nz

https://hr.utk.edu/performance-evaluation - University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes15116439

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/

http://www.sidekicker.com.au/

http://www.mindtools.com/

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/

http://www.dairynz.co.nz/

https://hr.utk.edu/performance-evaluation

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Appendix 1:

Job Description – Herdsperson

Milking on the Once a Day Unit in Ballymoe and in Tulsk as required.

Grassland management, which is key to our farm. Grass must be measured and recorded at least 40

times per year from early Spring onwards. All recordings to be added to Pasturebase and

information used to manage grass decisions.

Cow care is very important the health and wellbeing of the cows must be monitored and managed at

all times, cows to be treated well at all times.

Fertility management will play a vital role as well.

Keeping the facilities clean and well maintained at all times.

Records to be kept up to date.

Attend local discussion groups and to continue to learn and progress.

Training and development.

Small amount of tractor work.

Key Attributes

Experience is not necessary.

A passion for working outdoors and like cows we are more than happy to provide training as

necessary.

A positive, can-do attitude and eager to learn.

There will be some working on your own at times so self-motivation and own initiative will be

required, although we all work as part of a team.

Enthusiasm, reliability and trustworthiness are key.

Driving licence essential.

farmers responsibility to become more competitive and

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